How can I open the NGS data .gz files?​

For selected reference standards, NGS data can be downloaded as a .gz file. The .gz files are compressed VCF files, which can be uncompressed with a program like 7-zip. These are very large files, so once uncompressed, we recommend looking at them using a text editor, such as Sublime Text or Notepad++. You won't be able to open these files with a program like Excel. .gz files can also be used in their compressed state if you are working with bioinformatic analysis software such as bedtools or VCFtools.